China (Part V) - fin.

So I realize I haven't updated this thing in a while, and haven't really gotten around to talking about what college is like for me. I promise I'll do that in the very next post. Meanwhile, let's just wrap this up...with a TON of pictures...


Yunnan - the clouds to the south.


Kunming - the flower city, where the yearly temperature variance is within 10 degrees and all restaurants close at 7 PM.

Stone Forest.


















Coral fossil. Part of the Stone Forest used to be underwater .
















Dali - the city where the mountains embrace the clouds.






Old Town Dali.







Three Pagodas.












Lijiang - the scenic city.

Black Dragon Pool.










Random picture - a guy dressed as Zhang Fei.


Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.




The way up.




















Couldn't breath in Beijing, but didn't feel the least lightheaded while climbing at high altitudes. The air in Yunnan is so much cleaner.


The workers who must climb up and down to build a walkway for future tourists.






Standing on top of a sea of clouds.


The way down.


Impression Lijiang - a cultural show demonstrating the traditions and lifestyles of the native Naxi, Yi, and Bai peoples.












Drinking games....=|


The theater has a built-in waterfall.








Blue Moon Valley.




Can water even be that color?






...Falcons are heavy.


Yak.




I thought water this clear wasn't possible. This is a shot of moving water too.




The source of the stream. No wonder why I couldn't bear to stand in the water for more than 10 seconds.


But the yak has no trouble...


Old Town Lijiang.
Boasting the best bathrooms in Yunnan.
No I am not kidding. The bathrooms in this traditional-style town are the most elegant buildings there. Yes, not just really clean, but really elegant. They are two-story buildings, men on upper floor women on lower, complete with a furnished entry hall, staircases, an overhanging balcony, couches, and burning incense candles.












We spent quite a couple hours late at night at one of the night bars...it was interesting...


Last day in Yunnan was spent back in Kunming looking/buying souvenirs. In one day, we spent over $7000 on tea leaves, a silver bowl/spoon/chopsticks set, and a set of Go stones. Pretty crazy.

Also, mushroom hotpot. I think I no longer have a distaste for mushrooms after that meal.

Anyways, we flew from Kunming back to Wuxi, then drove to Shanghai, arriving at 2 in the morning. x_X

We did some various things in Shanghai, but nothing particularly interesting since we've already been to Shanghai before, plus a lot of the sightseeing places are under renovation in preparation for the 2010 World Expo. Advertisements for that were everywhere in the city. We also met up with Viola's dad the day before we left and got to see/have dinner at Fudan University. Crab eggs.


Final Thoughts

23 days is a REALLY long time.
I lost 10 pounds in the course of 3 weeks of sightseeing. o_o

Might add to this later, but I have class now so yeah...